Single trigger action for doublebarrel shotguns



7 SINGLE TRIGGER ACTION FOR DOUBLE BARREL SHOTGUNS Filed Aug. 25, 1945 C. A. YOUNG Nov. 2, 1948.

2 She'etsSheet 1 (Ittornegs I Nov. 2, 1948. c.' YOUNG 2,452,825

smem TRIGGER ACTION FOR DOUBLE BARREL snowe'uns Filed Aug. 23, 1945 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3nventor Patented Nov. 2, 1948 SINGLE TRIGGER ACTION FOR DOUBLE- BARREL SHOT'GUNS Charles A. Young; Springfield, Ohio ApplicationAugust '23, 1945, Serial NO; 612,181

7.0.laims; 1-

Thisinventionrrelates lac-improvements in firearms; and:more particularly to either double barrel ior: singlerbarrei; shot. guns and: especially to." means for locking: the: sear: actuatorzxwhich means .isaoperated to unlocking position bygthe pressureof; the gunv upon: the shoulder of: the shooter;

One of the: objectsofrthe invention is ;tOpEOT- vide-a locking device'of this character which can :be readily" installed-in a conventional .type: gun: without disturbing, the firing: mechanismmf the gun and in whichytheifiring: mechanismor parts thereofof the gunrnra rjbe readily re-' moved without :disturbing. the connections which lead? fromthe. shoulder? piece-w to the locking: device;

Aiurther: object .of.:the inventionzis. to provide atpivotedplockingr:devioefcr the sear actuator; ofvthe gun' which: isrop'erated; from the; shoulderi piece and which" may; bevreadily ."applied i t0:; the: support fort'the firing: mechanism: without' disturbingr the mechanism.

A further but nonetheless: important object of; the invention is to prevent doubling, that isunintentional immediate successive; discharge of: the second :barreluof. adouble .barreled :gun; a-sva result of: the: -i'nvoluntary puilff incident. tore.- coi-l' and-subsequent :rebound 'ot .the gun upontdis-=- charge of :the first'rbarrel.

With the above: primary? andcoth'er incidental objects in View asrwillzimore fully appear. in the:

specification, therinvention intended to.:be'-protectedrby Letters.sPatentaconsistsaof the features of. construction; the: parts. and combinations. thereof; andthemode of operation, ontheir equivalents; as; hereinaiten. describedi or illus tratedin the-accompanying: drawings.

A dominant'feature of thespresentxconstruction is: automatic 1 prevention 1 of? accidental dischargeof the: secondbarrelof adouble barreled' gunhavingazcorrnnonfingerztriggerrfor tl're firing A mechanism of both barrels.v

Underordin-aryconditions 015- use upon dischargeathere. are; two-=very definiteimovements. of I theagun. Eventhough ther-gurr is being-pressed tightly against the shoulder; at: the moment of I discharge; the resulting recoil causes further strong-retractive movement against theshoulder which is immediately followed by an equally strong forward impulse "orrebound.

In argunoi the character mentioned; having a single.fingerttriggerrand-ia; switching mechanism fOlIZ automatically alternating". its: control of the firing; mechanism of the: respective. barrels, the

recoil atzthemomentfoi dischargerof thefirst-bar rel to be'fired causes an. involuntary relaxation-of finger pressureuponth efinger trigger, sufficient to permit its. return and effect; the switch of :its control to the. complementary firingrmechanism of the other barrel. Thereafter the-reboundofthe. gun or fonward' impulse folliowings thearecoil-z is quite likely to exert for-wardpressure. of the finger triggeragainst the. shooters finger, which he has not yet removed from .firingposition. It will be understood that the sequence of the init-rial pull upon the-trigger, the-discharge;- recoil and rebound will have occurred almost instanta= neously. The switch of influence of 'thefinger trigger having occurred upon the recoil, the-in voluntary incident to the reboundleffectsxdis charge of. the. secondbarrelr The present-inchstruction affords .a safety ieaturewhereby such accidental discharge is positively prevented:

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l isva sideelevation .of-Fa portion of a:double= barrel. gunopartly broken away; embodying the:- present invention with some of the operating parts shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of 'a portion of= the gun partly broken away and. shown in section.

Fig; 3. is an enlargedaview: partly in section and partly in side. elevation. and partly broken away" of a portion of the. opposite sideof the: gun show ing the-locking device for the trigger in locking: position.

Fig. 4 isan enlarged view partlybroken-away of some oi'the parts shown in Fig. B'butshowing the locking: device in unlocking position.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the-"trigger and thepivotal connector which: connects the trigger to the: opposite firing-mechanism.

Fig-r 6 is a side velevationpartly insection and partlyabroken away sho-wing the'parts in a diiferent position thanthat shown in- Fig. 2.1

Fig. 7 is asection-on the-line -'."-?"of Fig. 6.

Like parts are indicated: by similar characters of reference throughout the-several views;

. Referring first to Figs; 1 to 6; inclusive, and

Fig. '7 of :the'drawings, lrepresentsoneof the barrels otjthe gun; 2 the'stock and 3 theinterrnediate housing which encloses the firing-mechanism; This housing has a removable bottom plate 4 which carries some ofth'e parts of the firing mechanism; The plate 6- in the present case has'an inverted U-sha-ped auxiliary support 5 which is secured thereto in any suitable manner. In'Figs; l; 2; 3; 4; 6: andTone of'the sear actuators is indicated at '6 which is pivoted on a pin a1 which" is carried by the plate 4 The plate 4 is provided on each side thereof with ears 8 through which the pin extends. The pin is in the nature of a screw which extends through one oi the ears and has a threaded connection with the other ear. On the opposite side of the gun shown in Figs. 3 and 4 there is provided a sear actuator 9 which has a finger trigger l6 connected therewith, the sear actuator 9 being pivoted on the pin 1.

Pivoted to the sear actuator 9 is a connector H, the pivotal connection being a screw |2 (Fig. This connector is for the purpose of connecting under certain conditions the sear actuator 9 with the sear actuator 6. The free end of this connector H has a notch I3 which receives the free end of a spring I4, the intermediate portion or which is wrapped about a pin l5 screwed into the support 5 and the other end of which is extended beneath a pin Hi. This spring serves under some conditions to hold the free end of the connector in contact with the forward wall of a groove I! cut into the side of the support 5.

Normally before the gun is fired the free end of the connector I is held in line with a groove I8 also cut into the side of the support 5, the two grooves being separated by a wall l9. The tail 2| of a sear bears on a lug 22 on the connector and serves to hold the free end of the connector in line with the groove is against the tension of its spring. when the connector is held in that position it is maintained in disconnected relation with the sear actuator 6. The means for con necting the connector to the sear actuator 6 con sists of a lug 23 on the connector which is adapted to enter a notch 24 in the sear actuator 6 (Figs.

1, 2, 3, 6, and '7) when the connector is in line with the groove I1. When, however, the connector is being held by the tail 2| of the sear 20 in line with the groove |8 the projection 23 will be out of notch 24 in the position shown in Fig. 2 so that when the sear actuator 9 is operated the sear actuator 6 will be left unoperated. After the firing of the barrel corresponding to the sear actuator 9 a spring 25 returns the sear actuator 9 to normal position, withdrawing the free end of the connector I I from the slot l8 and permitting its spring to throw the free end of the connector against the forward wall of the groove I1 and in line with the groove I! so as to connect the two sear actuators so that upon pressing the finger trigger ill the other sear actuator 6 will release its corresponding sear 26 through the medium of a projection 21 on the sear actuator 6 which lies beneath the tail of the sear 26. The impact member or hammer corresponding to the sear 29 is indicated at 28 and the impact member or hammer corresponding to the sear 26 is indicated in dotted lines at 29; a flat spring, one of which is shown in dotted lines at 29' in Fig. 2, is provided for each impact member to impel it to firing position. In the present case both impact members and the two sears are pivotall supported by the side walls of the housing 3.

Each of the sears is pressed to engaging position with relation to its correspondingimpact member by a coil spring 30. The spring for the sear 2|] also acts to press the tail 2| of the sear 20 upon the lug 22 of the connector so as to hold the lug 23 out of operative relation with the sear actuator 6 and thereby normally main tain the two sear actuators in disconnected relation. When the finger trigger I0 is pressed to release its corresponding sear 20 the free end of th connector will ride into the slot I8 to maintain the two sear actuators in disconnected relation, but when pressure is released upon the finger trigger and the sear actuator 9 restored to its normal position by its spring 25 the connector after leaving the slot IE! will be rocked by its spring against the forward Wall of the slot I! to cause the two sear actuators to be connected by reason of the fact that the lug 23 will be pro- J'ected into the notch 24 in the sear actuator 6 so that when the finger trigger I0 is again pressed the sear actuator 6 will release its sear 26 from the impact member 29 to permit the second barrel to be fired.

Provision is made for locking the sear actuator 9 until the shoulder piece of the gun is pressed against the shoulder of the shooter in the following manner: A latch 32 is pivoted intermediate its length on the support 5, the latch being received in a slot in said support with a pivot pin 33 extending through the support and latch. The lower arm of the latch is provided with a projection 34 which is normally spring pressed by a spring 35 to a position above the lug 36 on the rear end of the sear actuator 9, the spring being in the nature of a spring wire which has one end connected to the upper arm of the lever and bears against the pivot pin 33 which is extended laterally beyond the support 5 for that purpose. The lower arm of the latch also has a projection 31 which is adapted to strike the lower wall of the slotted portion of the support 5 which acts as a stop. The end of the stock of the gun has secured thereto in any well known way a shoulder piece 38 of well known construction, being preferably formed of soft vulcanized rubber or other resilient material and provided with a chamber 39 whichcpens to the end of the stock. The stock of the gun is formed with a bore 40 through which extends a rod 4|. The rear end of this rod 4| is inserted in a slot in a boss 42 secured to and projecting from a plate 43 by the pivot pin 44 and a coil spring 45 located in a thimble 46 em bedded in the stock and interposed between the outer end of the thimble and the boss serves to press the plate against the rear wall of the chamber 39 and hold the rod in inoperative position so long as no pressure is placed upon the shoulder piece. The forward end of the rod 4| has secured thereto in any suitable way an enlarged member 41 which snugly fits the extreme'forward end of the bore 40 and projects into the housing 3 where it is provided with a projection 48 which stands in operative relation with the latch 32. The projection 34 of the latch 32 normally lies above the projection 36 on'the sear actuator 9 so as to lock the sear actuator, but when pressure is applied to the shoulder piece by pressing the gun against the shoulder of the shooter the rod 4i will be projected forwardly so as to rock the latch 32 to cause its projection 34 to move to the position shown in Fig. 4 to unlock the sear actuator 9 so that one barrel of the gun may be fired; As soon as pressure is relieved on the trigger and on the shoulder piece the sear actuator will be forced back to its normal position and the locking projection of the lever 32 again restored to locking position by its spring.

By this construction, the locking device de-' scribed may be readily installed upon any existing gun of the character referred to, as the only thing necessary is to remove the bottom plate 4 which carries a portion of the firing mechanism, slot the rear end of the support 5 to receive the locking latch 32 and bore the stock 2 to receive the operating rod 4| and its associated parts. When it is necessary to remove the firing mechanism carri'ed by the plate A this can be readily accomplishedi without disturbing in anyway the operating rod N and its associated parts including the resilient shoulder piece, inasmuch: as the forward endof the rod-isfreeof the support.

In the present instance, the momentary release offingerpressure incident to the recoil which enables automatic switch of the influence ofthe finger pull-trigger id, also enables simultaneous locking engagement of'the detent 32overtheta-i1 36 of -the trigger 9 This occurs upon the-involuntary'release'of the-finger trigger iii upon the retractiverecoil and before the forward rebound by'whichthe trigger would otherwise be again pulled-to fire the second barrel.

If it was possible to'hold the-finger trigger ll] retracted-as-shown in Fig. 4, after the moment of discharge, the detent could not engage over the tail 36 of the finger pull but neither would the switch of influence tothe ,sec'cmd:v barrel ,firing mechanism have then occurred, which can only occur uponreleaseof the finger trigger and its return to the Fig. 3 position. However, the finger trigger cannot be so held: irf-operated position because therecoil of the gun: moves the finger trigger rearwardly from the. shooters finger and efiects involuntary release of pressure thereon. Whereupon the finger trigger returns to normal and switches its influence to the second barrel firing mechanism. As pressure against the shoulder is relaxed the detent 32 automatically locks the finger trigger before the rebound acquires momentum and before the moment of involuntary pull upon the finger trigger ill as result of the rebound, the finger trigger has been already locked by the detent, and can only be unlocked preparatory to intentional firing of the second barrel by a firm pull of the gun stock against the shooters shoulder, by which the plunger 4! is actuated as before described to rock the detent 32 out of its locking position.

Thus a pulling influence upon the gun stock against the shoulder is compulsory to unlock the finger trigger preparatory to firing each barrel and the finger trigger is automatically locked after the first barrel is discharged before the second barrel may be accidentally discharged by involuntary pull on the finger trigger Hi.

The present application is a continuation in part of original application Serial No. 342,007,

\ filed June 24, 1940, now matured into Letters Patent No. 2,401,034=, issued May 28, 1946.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thus provided a device of the character described possessing the particular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but which obviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportions, detail construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the principle involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

While in order to comply with the statute the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprise the preferred form of several modes of putting the invention into effect, and the invention is there fore claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Dual firing mechanism for a double barreled firearm, wherein separate impact members, one

6 for each barrel, areindependently held cockedby separatesears independently releasable by'separate sear actuators, including a single'finger trigger common to both firing mechanisms carried by one of' the sear actuators, a coupler pivotally mountedon the-same sear actuator by which the finger trigger-is carried, having operative relation with the sear of one; impact member movable into operative engagement with the sear of the other impact member by oscillatory adjustment of the pivoted coupler, anda. stationary guide member with which the pivoted coupler is engageable in its alternate positions of oscillatory adjustment.

2.v Dual firing mechanismfor adouble barreled firearm, wherein independently releasable impact members-are held cocked by separate sears, disengageable therefrom-by independent sear actuators including a single finger trigger carried by one sear actuator and common to both firing mechanisms, an oscillatory coupler carried by the same sear actuator by which the finger trigger is carried, automatically operative upon return motion, of saidsear actuator from disengagement of thecorresponding sear fromits impact member to assume relationto the second sear forv dis.- engagement of the second sear from its impact member upon subsequent movement of the same sear actuator by the common finger trigger.

3. Dual firing mechanism for a double barreled firearm, wherein independently releasable impact members are held cocked by separate sears, disengageable therefrom by independent sear actuators including a single finger trigger carried by one sear actuator and common to both firing mechanisms, an oscillatory spring influenced coupler carried by one of the sear actuators, and automatically movable into interlocking engagement with the other sear actuator upon return motion of the first sear actuator from operative action in disengaging one of the scars to release its corresponding impact member, a guide for said oscillatory coupler directing it into operative relation with the other sear actuator to disengage the corresponding other sear upon succeeding operation of the first sear actuator by said common finger trigger.

4. Dual firing mechanism for a double barreled firearm, wherein independently releasable impact members are held cocked by separate sears, disengageable therefrom by independent sear actuators including a single finger trigger carried by one sear actuator and common to both firing mechanisms, a relatively movable spring influenced coupler carried by one of the sear actuators and automatically movable into interlocking engagement with the second sear actuator upon return motion of the initial sear actuator from disengagement of its corresponding sear to release the related impact member.

5. Dual firing mechanism for a double barreled firearm, wherein independently releasable impact members are held cocked by separate sears, disengageable therefrom by independent sear actuators including a single finger trigger carrled by one sear actuator and common to both firing mechanisms, 21 pivotally mounted coupler carried by the finger trigger carrying sear actuator normally engageable with the corresponding sear to release the related impact member upon movement of the sear actuator under influence of the common finger trigger, and automatically engageable with the second sear actuator to disengage the second sear to release its related impact member upon repetition of the finger trigger influence upon the first trigger.

6. Dual firing mechanism for a double barreled firearm, wherein independently releasable impact members are held cooked by separate sears, disengageable therefrom by independent sear actuators including a single finger trigger carried by one sear actuator and common to both firing mechanisms, including a finger trigger common to both firing mechanisms carried by one of the sear actuators, a coupler carried by the same sear actuator and automatically movable into interlocking engagement with the other sear actuator upon return movement of the first sear actuator from having disengaged its corresponding sear to release its related impact member preparatory to unison movement of both sear actuators under influence of a succeeding retraction of the common finger trigger to disengage the other sear from its related impact member.

7. Dual firing mechanism for a double barreled firearm, wherein independently releasable impact members are held cocked by separate sears, dis engageable therefrom by independent sear actuators including a single finger trigger carried by one sear actuator and common to both firing mechanisms, an oscillatory coupler pivoted to the same sear actuator, oppositely extending 0fiset lugs projecting from the coupler, one 01 which is engageable with the sear corresponding to said sear actuator to disengage the sear from its related impact member upon movement of the sear actuator by retraction of the finger trigger, the other of which lugs is engageable with the second sear actuator upon return motion of the first sear actuator after having disengaged the corresponding sear, a spring for shifting the coupler, and a stop preventing shift of the coupler under influence of the spring prior to complete return of the operated sear actuator preparatory to oscillation of the coupler into engagement with the second sear actuator for disengagement of the second sear upon subsequent unison operation of the sear actuators.

CHARLES A. YOUNG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,029,782 Worrest June 18, 1912 2,336,188 Point Dec. 7, 1943 

